Kirsten Kendrick

Morning Edition Host

KPLU

Kirsten Kendrick has been hosting KPLU’s Morning Edition since 2006. She handles all aspects of the show - from news selection and writing to audio production. Kirsten has worked in radio for 20 years. She was born in Ohio, grew up in Indiana and attended high school and college in North Texas. In addition to being a jazz fan, Kirsten is an avid softball player and sports lover. Kirsten and her husband Troy live in Seattle with their son Delton and their dog Nancy with the Laughing Face.

Kirsten's most memorable moment at KPLU: Interviewing sports columnist Art Thiel about the demise of The Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Kirsten says, "Art's raw emotion in describing the newspaper's final day really impacted me."

Ways To Connect

The year 2014 started with a Super Bowl victory by the Seattle Seahawks, and ended with them in the playoffs once again. In between those events, a lot happened with the Mariners, Sounders and two separate University of Washington teams.

KPLU sports commentator Art Thiel counts down his top five sports moments of 2014.

The University of Washington football team is spending the holiday break preparing for a battle against Oklahoma State University in the Cactus Bowl, which takes place on Friday, Jan. 2, in Tempe, Arizona.

KPLU sports commentator Art Thiel says it may be one of the "lesser" bowl games, but it still has some value for UW.

The end of Thanksgiving signals another holiday tradition in the Northwest: the annual football matchup between the University of Washington and Washington State University. The Apple Cup will take place Saturday night in Pullman.

The spotlight will be on the Seahawks once again this weekend as the team tries to bounce back from all the controversy that's been swirling around them recently. They play the Carolina Panthers in Charlotte on Sunday.

The Seahawks have been under intense scrutiny following back-to-back losses and the shocking trade of star receiver Percy Harvin.

KPLU sports commentator Art Thiel says this is what happens when a defending Super Bowl champion makes a controversial mid-season trade that really amounts to a firing.

We’re just about two weeks away from the 2014 election. It’s not a presidential election year, but there are several big issues on the ballot that have attracted big money to try to get your vote. Those issues include gun sales, class size and control of the state Senate.

Here’s a quick look at what’s on your ballot, what’s at stake and what it’s costing.

The 3-1 Seahawks host the 4-1 Cowboys on Sunday at CenturyLink Field. KPLU sports commentator Art Thiel expects another strong showing from quarterback Russell Wilson, the man who's won the last two games with his hands and his feet.

The Mariners may not have made the playoffs, but they made a lot of fans proud by sweeping the best team in baseball over the weekend. They did it with a stellar showing from Felix Hernandez in the final game of the season. It was a performance that could earn The King another pitching crown.

After four wins in non-conference games, the Pac-12 season begins Saturday for the University of Washington football team. The unranked Huskies take on No. 16 Stanford at home. KPLU sports commentator Art Thiel says it should be a lively matchup.

The Seattle Sounders won their fourth U.S. Open Cup championship this week. They also have the best record in Major League Soccer right now. KPLU sports commentator Art Thiel says the Sounders’ success has come despite several distractions.

The Seahawks start their season with a bang, or should we say a boom. The defending Super Bowl champions trounced the Green Bay Packers Thursday night by a score of 36-16 at CenturyLink Field in Seattle.

The Hawks’ notorious Legion of Boom defense certainly showed its stuff. But KPLU sports commentator Art Thiel says the offense was on fire as well.

The University of Washington football team opens its 2014 season on Aug. 30 in Hawaii. The Huskies are coming off a successful, 9-4 season last year, and they have a promising new coach. But they also have a bit of a quarterback controversy, says sports commentator Art Thiel.

Two football players recently apologized for incidents that involved violence against women. But KPLU sports commentator Art Thiel wants more from both the players and the organizations that punished them for their actions.

"It was the words of the players that bothered me because they never explained why and how, and what they did," Art said. "Until they do that, you can't own it."

From Seattle Sounders players shining at the World Cup to four Mariners in the All-Star game, to the Seahawks winning best team in sports at the ESPY Awards, Seattle sports fans have lots of reasons to smile lately.

Major League Baseball’s All-Star game is Tuesday in Minneapolis, with the winning league gaining home-field advantage in the World Series. Three Mariners will play for the American League: All-Star veterans Robinson Cano and Felix Hernandez and first-time All-Star Kyle Seager.

KPLU sports commentator Art Thiel says the Mariners could use more players like Seager — homegrown and hitting the ball.

The Mariners are going for their fifth series win in a row, taking on the White Sox in Chicago this weekend. KPLU sports commentator Art Thiel says the Mariners have been on fire recently, particularly at the plate.

The U.S. Men's National Soccer Team will take on Belgium next Tuesday in the knockout round of the World Cup. The U.S. men weren't expected to get past the so-called Group of Death. But they did, and they did it with the help of Seattle's own DeAndre Yedlin, a World Cup rookie.

World Cup fever seems to have swept much of the nation, especially after the U.S. beat Ghana 2-1 on Monday. The U.S. men’s national team is led by captain and Seattle Sounders star Clint Dempsey, who scored the first goal in the first 30 seconds of the match.

As U.S. prepares to take on Portugal on Sunday afternoon, sports commentator Art Thiel says the team's win has changed the expected narrative of the World Cup, or what Art calls "grand theater."

The $2 billion sale of the L.A. Clippers to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is in limbo. Embattled Clippers owner Donald Sterling is moving forward with his lawsuit against the NBA, saying he was forced unfairly to sell the team after his racist comments were made public.

Sterling this week called the NBA "a band of hypocrites and bullies" and "despicable monsters." And the Associated Press reports he's now hired several private investigators to dig up dirt on NBA commissioners and his fellow owners.

Does the NBA have anything to hide? KPLU sports commentator Art Thiel says there's a crack in the NBA's case.